[Review of: Gregg, R. E. 1963. The ants of Colorado, with reference to their ecology, taxonomy, and geographic distribution. Boulder: University of Colorado Press, xvi+792 pp.]

NEW BIOLOGICAL BOOKS

buccal capsule, pharynx (called esophagus), and
pharyngeal bulb. The systematic part begins with
a list of hosts, followed by a key to the genera of
the Thelastomatidae. Illustrated descriptions are
given of the various species found in European
hosts. Scavenger types of hosts are not subject to
oxyuroid infection. Both larval and adult stages
of hemimctabolous insects are subject to infection
by a given oxyuroid, whereas cither stage (but not
both) in holomctabolous insects may act as host.
The article represents a great' deal of meticulous
work and should be helpful to nematologists.

L. H. HYMAN

taxonomic forms, as in his vague and peevish re-
jection of most of Wilson's Lasius revision, a work
that contrasts strongly with Gregg's in its full and
explicit, and, above all, in its quantitative treat-
ment of the data for each species.

There is enough real and interesting information
scattered through Gregg's big book to indicate that
Colorado is a wonderful state with a wonderful
ant fauna. But as in the case of Cook's The Ants
of California one wonders who will need the book
badly enough to pay the stiff price asked.

W. L. BROWN, JR.

THE ANTS OF COLORADO with Reference to Their
Ecology, Taxonomy, and Geographic Distribution.

By Robert E. Gregg. University of Colorado

Press, Boulder. $14.00. xvi -|- 792 pp. + 24

pi.; text ill. 1963.

One of the features of the American literature on
ants is the plethora of "annotated lists" of ants for
most of the states from coast to coast. In recent
years, with the increase in government aid, state
lists have tended to expand to book size. In sheer
weight of pages, at least, The Ants of Colorado
marks the extreme of this trend. A more accurate
title would have been Colorado and the Distri-
bution of her Ants, because one reads to p. 120
before Gregg turns. from the geography and ecology
of Colorado to the ants themselves. It is his thesis
that the Colorado ants show a good "indicator" fit
to "biotic zones," and, in particular, to the life
zones of Merriam. A careful perusal of the distri-
butional data does not give one much confidence in
the reality of the fit, or, for that matter, of the
zones themselves.

This book is padded to an almost incredible
degree: by rambling, repetitious exposition of triv-
ial points, by species-distribution maps and redun-
dant altitudinal-distribution charts that waste a
blank quarter of a page for each species (and some-
times a whole page, as when they indicate a single
collection for the state!), and by the frequent
repetition in- full of numerous collection stations
under many species headings. Descriptive material
is largely limited to the keys, which are mostly
adapted from Creighton. In view of Gregg's con-
siderable skill as an illustrator, the single most
disappointing thing about the book for me is that
it contains not a single drawing of an ant!

The author professes to adhere to subspecies tax-
onomy, yet in applying its principles he sometimes
has "races" overlapping broadly or occurring at the
same stations, apparently without intcrgrading. In
some instances, he even returns to prc-Creighton

BRITISH PKOSOBKANCII MOLLUSCS. Their Functional
Anatomy and Ecology.

By Vera Fretter and Alastair Graham. The Ray

Society, London. 8 8s. xvi -j- 755 pp.; ill.

1962.

Malacologists the world over will rejoice at this
magnificent volume by two outstanding students of
gastropods. It opens with a general account of the
characteristics of mollusks, followed by a chapter
on the anatomy of Littorina selected to illustrate
prosobranch organization. Successive chapters deal
exhaustively with the functional anatomy of the
shell, mantle cavity, skin, muscular system, alimen-
tary system (three chapters), vascular system, ex-
cretory system, nervous system and sense organs,
reproductive system (two chapters), spawn, develop-
ment, and larval forms. A chapter on feeding fol-
lows the account of the digestive system.

A section on ecology comprises three chapters on
the life of limpets and other prosobranchs on rocky
shores, a chapter on prosobranchs of other marine
habitats, and one on the adaptations of prosobranch
invaders of brackish, fresh-water, and terrestrial
habitats. The parasites of prosobranchs, mostly
trematode larvae, are meticulously listed under each
host name. One notes the unfortunate retention of
the erroneous and abandoned term "parthenitae."

As primary divisions of the group, the authors
prefer the older classification into Diotocardia and
Monotocardia, since they believe that these names
reflect more important features than do divisions
based on the form of the radula, as in Pelsenecr's
classification. Undoubtedly, the evolutionary trend
has been from the diotocardian condition with
paired auricles, gills, and nephridia to the monoto-
cardian condition with suppression of the right
members of these pairs. A detailed classification is
provided in an appendix but is limited to the
forms dealt with in the book that is, to the
British prosobranchs. A second appendix gives the
type of habitat and distribution of the British
species.

W,L Brown, Jr.

COLLECTION